Masterpiece (January 13, 2018)

By Becky Huebner, Nebraska Home Sales REALTOR®

I had dreamt about this one for years. It was to be my perfect piece de resistance. Quickly it became clear that it was not.

I could tell you about the sellers–For Sale by Owners for starters, with the host of hurdles associated with any FSBO. I could tell you something of their personal circumstances and their sundry challenges that compounded the challenges. I could tell you about my buyers, their seven years of marriage spent in a little one-bedroom apartment. I could tell you about the mountains they have, and are, climbing and of their priorities that led to the length of this journey. I could tell you why this little modest home became the pivotal player in this story. But those are not really my stories to tell, mine alone is.

We REALTORS® do important work. Saint Teresa encourages us to do “small things with great love”. We are not medical providers or legal ones; we are not presidents or first responders; we are REALTORS®. Seemingly small by comparison, our work can be as impactful as any, if done with skill, care and even, sometimes, love. And even small doses of care can do love’s work. We facilitate some of the most important moments in life. We help set the table and the stage for some of life’s greatest acts to be played out. We facilitate the comings and the goings, the beginnings, the ends and the place for all the in between.

This transaction was as inelegant and imperfect as most. But, like most, the journey was worth the destination. And like most, this transaction and its story will stay with me and change me.

It took more labor and more love than typical to get to this closing day. Today I will go to closing in my very unprofessional painting clothes. There, I will pass my daughter and son- in- law the keys to their first home. Today this distinctly unskilled painter will follow them home, pick up her brush and help them create a masterpiece called home. If love, not perfection, creates a masterpiece, maybe this is my piece de resistance after all.